


like real people do

by askmeaboutmyoctopustheory



Category: Hellions (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Cabin Fic, Canon Related, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Getting Together, Himbos and Ninjas, Post-Mission, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Telepathy, of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/askmeaboutmyoctopustheory/pseuds/askmeaboutmyoctopustheory
Summary: Alex opened his eyes to see Kwannon sitting on the ground and looking back at him.“So.” He started. “We’re in some shit.”“Nothing unusual there.”
Relationships: Kwannon/Alex Summers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	like real people do

**Author's Note:**

> lookit me POSTING regularly who am i
> 
> this little rarepair is 10000% based on the current run of hellions  
> no major spoilers past i think number 4? 
> 
> i'm playing fast and loose with abilities and canon but i do what i want
> 
> rated teen because of slight discussion of yaknow...psylocke shit 
> 
> shout out to DANA who said i would give up on this by 3k words
> 
> also i can't believe i finally titled something this

“Alright. Where the hell are we.”

Alex slumped against a tree a ways away from the road they had been walking on for several miles and looked up at Kwannon. 

“Do I look like I know?”

“It was a rhetorical question, Alexander.”

Alex just remained quiet as Kwannon closed her eyes and a slight purple glow floated around her head. He also closed his eyes and tried to probe at a mental link that might be helpful.

“ _ My my, Havok. Certainly in a pickle aren’t we?” _

_ “Yeah, Emma. We are. Pretty sure we were framed.” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “Hmm that is probably why Charles called an emergency council meeting.” _

_ “God, we’re screwed.” _

_ “Let me see your memory, I’ll see your alibi and tell the council.” _

Alex sighed but let the White Queen poke around in his memory of the afternoon.

_ “Hm. Yes alright. Just lay low for a bit, I’ll get this sorted out.” _

_ “Where the hell are we? Where are we supposed to lay low?” _

_ “You’re near Walden Colorado. And….”  _ there was a pause before Emma’s voice was in his head again.  _ “The Hellfire Corporation just bought a house on the outskirts of town. It’s not gonna be glamorous but I’ve been telling Psylocke to telepathically shield the area so it’ll be safe.” _

Alex peeked an eye open and saw Kwannon looking into middle distance with the full psychic butterfly around her head. __

_ “Thanks Emma.” _

Her presence in Alex’s mind faded but he felt another one lingering.

_ “You’d think living with Jean Grey would give someone better psychic shields.”  _ Came Kwannon’s voice in his head. 

_ “I don’t have much to hide.”  _

Alex opened his eyes to see Kwannon sitting on the ground and looking back at him.

“So.” He started. “We’re in some shit.”   
  
“Nothing unusual there.” 

“God, I love having rich friends.”

Kwannon stood up and offered her hand to help Alex up. Standing level, they were almost the same height. Her eyes glowed purple briefly.

“There’s a park ranger driving a truck towards this road who has just become convinced that we’re a couple lost on a hike and we need a ride into town.”

“Convenient.” Alex grinned. “I’m assuming he also thinks we look normal and not-” he gestured to their mission clothes.

“Obviously.” the corner of her mouth twitched, the most she ever smiled. “Some residents in town have also been so kind to bring food and some clothes to the house that the troubled young couple just moved into to get back on their feet.”

“Oh look, here comes a Park Service truck”

When the friendly park ranger arrived, they slid into the cab of the truck and Alex assumed that he was under psychic illusion. 

“How did that go so bad, so fast.” He wondered outloud.

“Not sure.” she replied. “I’m guessing Sinister is involved.”

Alex just hummed in agreement and they sat in silence, occasionally interrupted by the park ranger who was presumably holding a conversation with the illusions of them that Psylocke had created. 

The truck pulled to a stop in front of a run-down bungalow that seemed to be being swallowed alive by two large pine trees in the front yard. Kwannon thanked the park ranger and the two stood on the sidewalk looking at the forlorn house. 

“So she’s a bit of a fixer-upper…” Alex sung quietly. 

Kwannon gave him a withering glance “The imitable goblin prince knows Frozen songs?”

He just shrugged. “My niece and nephew have been de-aged like a million times. Kids' movies are always kickin around the moon house. I think Logan secretly likes them.”

Kwannon snorted a soft laugh slowly and looked back at the house. “Well. Let’s get inside before we become the talk of the neighborhood facebook page.”

The house was filled with dust motes and the smell of old floorboards. There was obvious rodent damage in the walls and the windows did little to protect from the drafts. The front rooms were empty save for a sofa that sagged in the middle and a small side table. The kitchen tap ran rusty water for a minute before running clean. The top floor was one large room with a chest of drawers and a mattress on the floor.

As Alex looked around the dusty bedroom, the sheets and blankets on top of the mattress floated upward and began to shake off the dust that had accumulated. The mattress stood on its end and knocked against the wall to do the same. He turned around and saw Kwannon once again with the purple glow around her head.

When she met his eyes she gave a half shrug. “I got some of Braddock’s powers in there still.”

“Incredible.” He replied, giving her a small grin. “I’m gonna go get the stuff that was on the porch. Probably the stuff our neighbors graciously gave us out of their own complete free will.”

“I’m sure they’ll conveniently find their belongings where they thought they had already looked after we leave.” Kwannon shot back at him.

Finding several tupperwares of prepared food and some bags of basic clothing on the porch with various well-wishes and platitudes from the surrounding neighbors, Alex returned inside. He put the food in the kitchen purely out of habit, there was no electricity in the stove. He peeled off his mission tac shirt and dug through the bag of clothing.

“We’ve got food downstairs, didn’t know where else to put it.” He found a faded Batman shirt and tossed the bag of clothing towards Kwannon. 

She turned and her eyes flickered over his bare chest, lingering on the bio-ceramic plate that Forge had made to allow Alex to wear normal clothing. She looked away when he met her gaze, realizing she was staring.

“It’s ok, Psy.” He said gently. “You can look or feel it if you want.”

  
He lifted one of her hands slowly to touch the glowing plate on his chest. “It’s pretty nice to not have to wear the circus suit all the time.”

“Incredible.”   
  


Alex shrugged again and pulled the shirt on. He found a pair of sweatpants in the bag and backed out of the door. “Gonna see how the bathroom works.”

Not well, as it turned out. The shower and sink water eventually ran clean and the toilet flushed, but there was a fair amount of mildew on the ceiling and cracked tiles on the wall. The mirror was greened with rust. Alex splashed some water on his face and tried to wash some of the grime off his hands and face. He slipped out of his tactical mission pants and finally relaxed. They could do this for a few days. It wouldn’t be long. 

He returned to the bedroom to see Kwannon sitting cross legged on the mattress eating hot cheetos out of a bag with chopsticks. She had changed into a hoodie that hung to her knees, and leggings, her hair braided instead of pulled back tightly. Alex raised an eyebrow when he noticed a very old broom on the far side of the room sweeping some dust away by its own accord.

“What?” Kwannon asked, cheeto midway to being eaten. “You’re not the only one who watches Disney movies. “

There was a beat of silence before Alex burst into a laughing fit that had him clutching at the plate on his chest and wheezing until his eyes teared up. He kneeled and then flopped to lay down on the mattress. After a few moments of his snickering, they returned to comfortable silence.

“You think this place’s got a basement?” He asked finally.

“Why? You wanna summon some demons? You think you could summon your girlfriend?”   
  
“Ex-Girlfriend. And I can’t, I just wonder what sorta thing would be in a basement of a place like this.”   
  
“We’re in rural-suburban Colorado, Alex. Probably mice and cardboard boxes.”

There was another spell of silence.

“You know that I didn’t mean to do that, at the orphanage. Maddy is-”   
  
“I know, Alex.” Kwannon cut him off and looked down at where he was laying. 

“Right. Telepathic. But still.” He twisted his mouth. “She deserves a place and deserves a life, but I don’t know if I want her in mine.”   
  
“What’re you gonna do about the Council clone ruling?”

He glanced up at Kwannon, she was leaning back against her hands, looking genuinely interested. 

“You know Logan’s youngest?”   
  
“Gabby?”   
  
“Yeah. She’s a good kid. Everyone loves her. She’s also reckless as hell and also a clone.”

Kwannon snorted a half-laugh. “You're a maniac.”

“I don’t think Cuckoos or Gabby would appreciate being the exception to the rule if it meant that other clones couldn’t also live their own lives.”

“Never said it was a bad thing.” She cocked her eyebrow with a twist of an almost smile. “Making a teenager do the heavy lifting.”   
  
“It’s more personal for her.”

Kwannon nodded and tipped her bag of cheetos to get the last of the crumbs to roll into her mouth. Once satisfied, she tossed the bag aside and stood up gracefully, extending a hand to Alex.

“You want to go into the basement or what?”

With only a few kicks to force the heavy basement door open, Alex stepped onto the narrow staircase descending into the dark. A purple glow surrounded them once they were completely immersed in the darkness and he turned to see Kwannon’s hand glowing with psionic energy. 

The basement had concrete floors and, once they located a lightswitch, they could see half-completed brick walls. A sink and a very old washing machine stood in one corner. The plumbing for the entire house was visible through the ceiling and walls.

“Pretty much as expected.” Alex sounded slightly disappointed.

Kwannon had wandered over to another corner of the room, inspecting the house’s fuse box and water heater. She sighed through her nose when she tried the furnace and found that it was broken. 

“It shouldn’t be too cold, it’s springtime.” Alex reasoned, walking up behind her. “I’m sure some of our neighbors could easily be convinced to loan some blankets too.”

“We’ll be fine.” With a few more sweeping glances around the unfinished room, Kwannon started back up the stairs. “You’re getting hungry, let’s see what we can make into dinner.”

When they ascended the stairs and emerged in the grimy kitchen, it was significantly darker than it had been when they started their basement adventure.

“Mountains.” Alex said. Kwannon looked at him with a tilted head. “They….block the sun and make it get dark quicker than flatter areas.”’

“Fascinating.” She said monotonously and pointed to the stove. “Do you think you can make one of the burners hot? The electricity in here is a disaster.”

“I mean, probably. I might also blow up the place though.”

“No you won’t. Don’t play dumb with me, I know you have a better handle on your abilities than you let on.”

He let out a small huff and scowled while placing his hand on one of the burners, his eyes locked with Kwannons as he felt the coils heat underneath his hands. 

“Happy?” He asked as he stepped away.

“Yes.” Kwannon scrunched her face into an approximate smile.

Several minutes later, there was soup from a tupperware bubbling in the least suspect looking pot they could find. The two of them leaned against opposite spaces of the countertop in silence. When the soup was deemed warm enough, Kwannon split it into portions and disappeared back up the stairs. Alex touched the burner to make sure it was no longer warm enough to be a fire risk and then retreated to the bedroom himself.

The top room was filled with a purple glow provided by a ball of psionic energy floating a few feet above the mattress. Kwannon sat cross-legged with her soup in both hands, as if warming her hands. 

“Gettin’ chilly?” Alex asked as he sat down facing her.    
  
“The insulation in here is shit.”

“We can probably line the window sash with a towel or somethin’ to keep the drafts out.”

“Let me just dip into my stash of spare towels.” 

“You know what I mean.”   
  
Kwannon just gave her another one of her small smiles. The purple glow cast around the room put half of her face in shadow and made her even harder to read. By the time their bowls were empty, night had completely fallen around the little house and both realized just how exhausted they were.

“What a crazy day.” Kwanon remarked as she held her hand out for Alex’s bowl. 

She disappeared down the stairs with the dirty dishes and Alex got up to find some clothes in the bag they were given that he could use to line the windows with. When Kwannon returned, the drafts were much less noticeable than they had been before. 

“Let’s get the rest of this day over with, huh?” He said with a grin laying down on the mattress and arranging the blankets.

Kwannon watched him carefully. She approached the other side of the mattress and sat on the edge. She seemed to take a deep breath and slide under the blankets before she could convince herself otherwise. Alex was facing towards the center of the mattress but Kwannon didn’t want to face him.

“You ok?” Alex asked tentatively towards her tensed body.

“Yeah.” She responded. There was a deep breath. “I’ve slept alone since.... Coming back.”   
  


The mattress shifted and Kwannon felt Alex roll away as if to give her as much space as possible. She chuckled softly. 

“I can sleep on the couch.” Alex replied. “Or-”

“It’s fine, Alex.” She finally rolled over to face him. “When I got my own body back I just..didn’t want anyone else in my space. But I need to let people in.”

“You don’t have to, Psy.” His eyes searched her face, still halfway in purple shadows. “You don’t have to let anyone into your life, especially if they’re not wanted. I’d think you’ve had enough of that.”

She pulled the purple light closer to them, making it easier to see Alex. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? I should’ve realized-”   
  
“No.” She cut him off. “I’m sorry for- for what this body has done to you.”   
  
He barked out a startling laugh. “I don’t hold any of the bullshit Braddock did against you at all.”

“I know you don’t.” She looked down. “I just needed to say it.”   
  


Kwannon pulled the ball of psionic energy out of the air and plunged the room into darkness. She settled on her back and took a few meditative breaths.

“You think too loudly, good night Alex.”

“...’night”

Alex felt the psychic presence next to him even while he was dreaming. He woke up to feel a warm weight on his chest. He was usually very hot during the night, a side effect of his mutation. Alex blinked in the early morning light shining into the room and his breath caught in his chest when he opened his eyes and saw Kwannon wrapped around him like a koala. Her face was relaxed and her breathing was even, she was still fast asleep. 

Weighing his options, Alex let himself relax. Getting up was out of the question, any significant movement would likely wake her up. Kwannon let out a soft puff of a breath and one of her feet flexed. Her nose twitched. She was dreaming of something. Alex grinned to himself and felt his arms slowly come up to wrap around her as he dozed off. 

An icy presence in Alex’s mind woke him up the second time. 

_ “Hi, Emma.” _ Alex didn't know if his sigh came through telepathically but he figured Emma knew. _  
_ _  
_ _ “I hope i’m not interrupting anything.” _

_ “You’re not. How’s the council?” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “They’re convinced, we just need to clear your name with human authorities. It might be a couple of days.” _

_ “Sounds like fun for you. Talk later, Emma.” _

Alex performed the equivalent of hanging up the telepathic phone by focusing on his mental blocks until he was confident Emma wouldn’t try to talk more. Even with his eyes still closed he could tell it was a fair bit later in the morning and Kwannon was still resting on his chest.

He peeked one eye open to see her violet eyes looking back at him and her lips curled in genuine amusement. 

“You couldn’t have mentioned that you’re a walking radiator?” Her voice was light and almost giggly.

“I could’ve, I really didn’t think about it. I don’t really notice it on my own much.” Alex opened both eyes and saw that she was laying halfway on top of him with her hands perching her head up on his chest. “I’m glad you weren’t cold.”

Kwannon just snorted a laugh in response.

“Is this… ok?” Alex asked tentatively lifting his arms in case she wanted to move.

“Do you think I’d be here if it wasn’t?

Alex just hummed in agreement and brought his arms down to wrap loosely around her. He absently played with the ends of her hair as they lay in comfortable silence.

“We’ve got a few more days until the council works everything out, probably.” He told her.

“Mmhm” Kwannon let her face rest on its side on Alex’s chest. She could feel the bioceramic plate moving and containing the energy within him. 

“We might have to go into town to get real food at some point. We don’t have money but I figure that’s not a concern since you’re-”   
  
Kwannon silenced his sleepy monologuing with one finger. “It’ll be ok. We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah. We will.” 

She turned her head again and saw that Alex was relaxed with his eyes closed beneath her. His hands were still on her back idly stroking her hair. Her own words from the night before floated back into her memory. “ _ I need to let people in.” _

“Hey Alex?”   
  
“Hmm?” his eyes remained closed.

Kwannon pulled herself up a bit and grinned only to herself. “Can I kiss you?” 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/_AMAMOT) or i’m on [tumblr](https://askmeaboutmyoctopustheory.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I'm also fairly active in the 18+ general X-men [Discord](https://discord.gg/pebvUEnWB6)
> 
> This author invites:  
> *Short comments  
> *Long comments  
> *Questions  
> *Reader/reader interaction
> 
> Author responses: This author replies to comments. If you don't want a reply for any reason whatsoever (you feel shy, you have anxiety, just because), feel free to sign your comment with "whisper" and I will appreciate the comment and respect your wish that I not respond.
> 
> welcome any form of podfic, fanart, remixes, fan-made media etc


End file.
